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PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL

LAW

EVOLUTION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF


INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

Mayank Yadav Prof. Noor Jahan

B.A. LL.B. (Hons) 4TH SEM

ROLL NO. : 26
What is International Maritime
Organization (IMO)?
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialized agency of the
United Nations that is responsible for measures to improve the safety and security
of international shipping and to prevent marine pollution from ships. According to
the IMO, themselves, more specifically, the IMO is “the global standard-setting
authority for the safety, security and environmental performance of international
shipping.”
Every development in world history takes place because of a factor or factors that
may come about with time and the establishment of the International maritime
organization, IMO, was no different. Of the various industries that have been
flourishing around the world ‘Shipping’ can be considered as truly an international
industry. This is because it serves more than 90% of the world’s trade by the cargo
transportation and other merchant ships that do so cleanly and cost effectively. As
a result, any particular ship can be governed by a management chain that spans
many countries, also these ships spend most of their times at sea between various
jurisdictions. Therefore, it was felt in the beginning of the last century that there
was a need of a universal governing body that in turn laid down rules and standards
to regulate the shipping process and the industry worldwide. Thus the International
maritime organization came into being.

The first international treaty of any kind between nations can be traced back to the
treaty of ‘safety of life at sea’ – SOLAS, which was adopted by a few nations, post
the disaster of Titanic. Though the IMO was established in 1948 in Geneva, it was
not enforced until 1959 at a meeting held at London, its headquarters.1

Breaking Down IMO


The International Maritime Organization's objectives can be best summed up by its
slogan —"Safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans."

The IMO "creates a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and
effective, universally adopted and universally implemented." Basically, the IMO
sets policy for international shipping, discouraging shippers from compromising on
1
https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-law/what-is-international-maritime-organization-imo/
safety, security and environmental performance to address financial concerns, and
encouraging innovation and efficiency.

The IMO is also involved in legal issues matters pertaining to international


shipping, such as liability and compensation matters, and the facilitation of
international maritime traffic. The IMO's governing body, which is the Assembly
that is made up of all 172 member states, generally meets every two years.

Policy, Enforcement, and General Information


It's important to note that the IMO does not implement or enforce policy, in any
way. The IMO was created to adopt policy, not enforce it. When governments
accept an IMO convention, it agrees to make those policies national law, and to
enforce those laws. The IMO did develop an audit program that made audits
required, effective as of January 2016. However, there is no countermeasure
available to the UN if the country is not enforcing the policies set by the IMO.
Instead, the IMO provides feedback and advice on a country's current
performance.

The IMO was established by means of a convention adopted in Geneva in 1948. It


entered into force in 1958, and first met in 1959. Based in the United Kingdom, the
IMO has 172 member states as of 2017 and three associate members.2

2
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/international-maritime-organization.asp
EVOLUTION
It has always been recognized that the best way of improving safety at sea is by
developing international regulations that are followed by all shipping nations and
from the mid-19th century onwards a number of such treaties were adopted.
Several countries proposed that a permanent international body should be
established to promote maritime safety more effectively, but it was not until the
establishment of the United Nations itself that these hopes were realized. In 1948
an international conference in Geneva adopted a convention formally establishing
IMO (the original name was the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative
Organization, or IMCO, but the name was changed in 1982 to IMO).

The IMO Convention entered into force in 1958 and the new Organization met for
the first time the following year.The purposes of the Organization, as summarized
by Article 1(a) of the Convention, are "to provide machinery for cooperation
among Governments in the field of governmental regulation and practices relating
to technical matters of all kinds affecting shipping engaged in international trade;
to encourage and facilitate the general adoption of the highest practicable standards
in matters concerning maritime safety, efficiency of navigation and prevention and
control of marine pollution from ships". The Organization is also empowered to
deal with administrative and legal matters related to these purposes.

IMO's first task was to adopt a new version of the International Convention for the
Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the most important of all treaties dealing with
maritime safety. This was achieved in 1960 and IMO then turned its attention to
such matters as the facilitation of international maritime traffic, load lines and the
carriage of dangerous goods, while the system of measuring the tonnage of ships
was revised. But although safety was and remains IMO's most important
responsibility, a new problem began to emerge - pollution. The growth in the
amount of oil being transported by sea and in the size of oil tankers was of
particular concern and the Torrey Canyon disaster of 1967, in which 120,000
tonnes of oil was spilled, demonstrated the scale of the problem.3

During the next few years IMO introduced a series of measures designed to
prevent tanker accidents and to minimize their consequences. It also tackled the
environmental threat caused by routine operations such as the cleaning of oil cargo
tanks and the disposal of engine room wastes - in tonnage terms a bigger menace
3
https://www.un.org/depts/los/general_assembly/contributions_2018/IMO.pdf
than accidental pollution.4 The most important of all these measures was the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as
modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78). It covers not
only accidental and operational oil pollution but also pollution by chemicals, goods
in packaged form, sewage, garbage and air pollution.

Mission
"The mission of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a United
Nations specialized agency is to promote safe, secure, environmentally sound,
efficient and sustainable shipping through cooperation. This will be accomplished
by adopting the highest practicable standards of maritime safety and security,
efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of pollution from ships, as well
as through consideration of the related legal matters and effective implementation
of IMO’s instruments with a view to their universal and uniform application."5

PURPOSE
The purposes of the IMO, as set forth in the convention, are the following:

1. to facilitate cooperation among governments on technical matters of all


kinds affecting shipping engaged in international trade;
2. to encourage the general adoption of the highest practicable standards in
matters concerning maritime safety, efficiency of navigation, and the
prevention and control of marine pollution;
3. to encourage the removal of discriminatory action and unnecessary
restrictions by governments engaged in international trade, so as to promote
the availability of shipping services to world commerce without
discrimination;
4. to consider matters concerning unfair restrictive practices by shipping
concerns; and
5. to consider any matters concerning shipping that may be referred to the IMO
by any UN organ or specialized agency.6

4
https://www.ippc.int/en/external-cooperation/organizations-page-in-ipp/imo/
5
https://safety4sea.com/imo-achievements-in-maritime-liability-compensation-and-other-legal-issues/
6
https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/United-Nations-Related-Agencies/The-International-Maritime-
Organization-IMO-PURPOSES.html
EFFECTIVENESS
The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) was adopted in 1988
and began to be phased in from 1992. In February 1999, the GMDSS became fully
operational, so that now a ship that is in distress anywhere in the world can be
virtually guaranteed assistance, even if the ship's crew do not have time to radio for
help, as the message will be transmitted automatically. Two treaties were adopted,
in 1969 and 1971, which enabled victims of oil pollution to obtain compensation
much more simply and quickly than had been possible before. Both treaties were
amended in 1992, and again in 2000, to increase the limits International Maritime
Organisation was given the task of establishing a system for providing
compensation to those who had suffered financially as a result of pollution of
compensation payable to victims of pollution. A number of other legal conventions
have been developed since, most of which concern liability and compensation
issues. Also in the 1970s a global search and rescue system was initiated, with the
establishment of the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO), which
has greatly improved the provision of radio and other messages to ships. 7

A major revision of the STCW Convention and Code was completed in 2010 with
the adoption of the "Manila amendments to the STCW Convention and Code".
New conventions relating to the marine environment were adopted in the 2000s,
including one on anti-fouling sytems another on ballast water management to
prevent the invasion of alien species and another on ship recycling (Hong Kong
International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of
Ships, 2009). The 2000s also saw a focus on maritime security, with the entry into
force in July 2004 of a new, comprehensive security regime for international
shipping, including the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code,
made mandatory under amendments to SOLAS adopted in 2002. 8

IMO adopted amendments to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts
Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, 1988 and its related Protocol (the 2005
SUA Protocols), which amongst other things, introduce the right of a a State Party
desires to board a ship flying the flag of another State Party when the requesting
Party has reasonable grounds to suspect that the ship or a person on board the ship

7
https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/United-Nations-Related-Agencies/The-International-Maritime-
Organization-IMO-PURPOSES.html
8
http://maritimeolympiad.com/imo-international-maritime-organization/
is, has been, or is about to be involved in, the commission of an offence under the
Convention.

IMO has effective and efficient mechanisms in place for the elaboration,
development and adoption of international treaties, rules and regulations and their
implementation through the tacit acceptance procedure adopted for amendments to
most fundamental international conventions. During 2007, IMO has continued
focusing its activities on the adoption and implementation of international rules
and standards for the safety of navigation, prevention of the pollution of the marine
environment and maritime security.
CONCLUSION
Over 80% of international trade depends on the shipping industry. Without a
smooth running operation the shipping industry wouldn’t be able to continue its
work uninterrupted. IMO’s work ensures that this truly international industry can
operate effectively. IMO ensures that internationally agreed upon laws are
practiced to maintain similar standards all across the world. Shipping has been
accepted as the most efficient and cost-effective method of international
transportation for most goods. Today, more than ever, the world relies on a safe,
secure and efficient international shipping industry. This is possible only because
of the presence of IMO.

The major areas of concern which the International maritime organization, has
been able to bring under regulation have been prevention of accidents, setting up
safety standards for ships and other vessels (including design and materials) for the
member states to abide by, maintaining adherence to the established treaties of
safety and security, prevention of pollution and other avoidable human
disasters. IMO also facilitates technical co-operation among member states, setting
up an audition and monitoring scheme for these rules, standards and finally
monitoring liabilities and compensation in case of breach of any of these
regulations.

Thus, the International maritime organization is playing a very crucial role in the
modern society’s progress towards a better and healthy commercial and
transportation environment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

 www.imo.org
 www.un.org
 www.maritimeolympiad.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.britannica.com

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